Sunday, March 09, 2014

This image is the result of a weekend spent rediscovering images from a long ago shoot that had been a disappointment at the time.

Much of the reasons for the disappointment cannot be completely remedied, such as the expressions I was able to elicit from the model during the shoot, or the consistent pattern of shadows on his face. Although some of them can be used to advantage. The face shadows in this image can imply intimacy with the viewer.

Other reasons for disappointment can be completely corrected with skills I have developed over the years in making images from the negatives, such as creating better scans from the negative and knowing how to use Photoshop to color balance and adjust light.

The experience reinforces the much of what I learned reading Ansel Adams' seminal books on the camera, the film, and the print. Although camera's have changed, film has been replaced with digital raw files, and Photoshop and computer printers have replaced lab printing, the steps and concepts have not changed.

Sunday, March 02, 2014

At that time I had thought that most of the images were subpar, not because of the model, but because of my errors as a photographer. As you can see from this image, the shoot was on a sunny day and much of the work placed the model in direct sunlight. I was also working alone, so there was no one to man the reflector and create some fill light in the shadows.

This was exacerbated by errors I made with the digital raw images in Photoshop.

Now years later when I look at the settings in Photoshop Raw I see what I did wrong. Flattening the contrast solved most of the problems, and a healthy use of the Fill Light setting resolved the rest.

I am quite pleased with the results now.

The shoot with Romeo was a trade/test shoot. I only wish I could reach Romeo now to show him the much improved work.